Smuggled cigarettes account for about 18-22 per cent of Vietnam’s annual cigarette sales of 70-75 billion, according to a story in the Phnom Penh Post.

Last year, 12.9 billion cigarettes were estimated to have been smuggled into the country from Cambodia, up from 11.4 billion during 2011, according to figures from the Vietnam Tobacco Association (VTA).

The VTA has warned that local manufacturers will risk losing their dominant position on the Vietnamese market if effective measures are not taken to counter the threat of smuggled cigarettes.